When facing haftily about,

280 To stand upon my guard and scout, I found th' infernal cunning-man, And th' under-witch, his caliban, With fcourges (like the furies) arm'd, That on my outward quarters ftorm'd. 285 In hafte I fnatch'd my weapon up, And gave the hellish rage a stop; Call'd thrice upon your name, and fell Couragiously on Sidrophel:

Who now transform'd himself t' a bear, 290 Began to roar aloud, and tear; When I as furiously press'd on, My weapon down his throat to run, Laid hold on him, but he broke loose, And turn'd himself into a goofe, 295 Div'd under water in a pond, To hide himself from being found. In vain I fought him; but as foon As I perceiv'd him fled and gone, Prepar'd with equal haste and rage, 300 His under-forcerer t' engage. But bravely scorning to defile

My fword with feeble blood and vile; I judg'd it better from a quickSet hedge to cut a knotted flick, 305 With which I furiously laid on; Till in a harsh and doleful tone It roar'd, O hold for pity, Sir: I am too great a fufferer,

Abus'd, as you have been, b' a witch, 310 But conjur'd int' a worse caprich : Who fends me out on many a jaunt, Old houfes in the night to haunt,

For opportunities t' improve.
Designs of thievery or love;

315 With drugs convey'd in drink or meat,
All feats of witches counterfeit,

Kill pigs and geefe with powder'd glass,
And make it for inchantment pass;
With cow-itch meazle like a leper,
320 And choak with fumes of Guiney-pepper;
Make leachers and their punks with dewtry
Commit fantastical advowtry ;
Bewitch Hermetic-men to run
Stark ftaring mad with manicon;
325 Believe mechanic virtuosi

Can raise 'em mountains in Potofi;
And fillier than the antique fools,
Take treasure for a heap of coals;
Seek out for plants with fignatures,
330 To quack of universal cures ;
With figures ground on panes of glass,
Make people on their heads to pass:
And mighty heaps of coin increase,
Reflected from a single piece:

323 Bewitch Hermetic men, etc.] Hermes Trifmegiftus, an Egyptian philofopher, and faid to have liv'd anno mundi 2076. in the reign of Ninus, after Mofes. He was a wonderful philofopher, and proved that there was but one God, the creator of all things; and was the author of several most excellent and useful inventions; but those Hermetic-men here mentioned, though the pretended fectators of this great man, are nothing else but a wild and extravagant fort of Enthusiasts, who make a hodge-podge of religion and philosophy, and produce nothing but what is the object of every confidering perfon's contempt.

326 Potofi.] Potofi is a city of Peru, the mountains whereof afford great quantities of the finest silver in all the Indies.

335 To draw in foals, whofe natural itches
Incline perpetually to witches;
And keep me in continual fears,
And danger of my neck and ears:
When lefs delinquents have been fcourg'd
340 And hemp on wooden anvils forg'd,
Which others for cravats have worn
About their necks, and took a turn.
I pity'd the fad punishment
The wretched caitiff underwent,
345 And held my drubbing of his bones.
Too great an honour for pultrones;
For knights are bound to feel no blows
From paltry and unequal foes,

Who when they flash, and cut to pieces, 350 Do all with civileft addresses:

Their horfes never give a blow, But when they make a leg and bow. I therefore fpar'd his flesh, and prest him About the witch with many a question. 355 Quoth he, for many years he drove A kind of broking-trade in love. Employ'd in all th' intrigues and truft, of feeble, fpeculative luft;

Procurer to th' extravagancy
360 And crazy ribaldry of fancy,
By those the devil had forsook,

As things below him to provoke.
But b'ing a virtuofo, able

To fmatter, quack, and cant, and dabble,

365 He held his talent most adroit

For any mystical exploit ;

As others of his tribe had done,

And rais'd their prices three to one.

For one predicting pimp has th' odds
370 of chauldrons of plain downright bawds.
But as an elf (the devil's valet)

Is not fo flight a thing to get;
For those that do his bus'ness best,
In hell are us'd the ruggedeft;
375 Before fo meriting a perfon

Cou'd get a grant, but in reverfion,
He ferv'd two prenticeships, and longer,
I' th' myft'ry of a lady-monger.
For (as fome write) a witch's ghost,
380 As foon as from the body loos'd,
Becomes a puny-imp itself,

And is another's witch's elf.
He after searching far and near,
At length found one in Lancashire,
385 With whom he bargain'd before-hand,
And, after hanging, entertain'd.

Since which h' has play'd a thousand feats,
And practis'd all mechanic cheats:
Transform'd himself to th' ugly fhapes.

390 Of wolves, and bears, baboons, and apes;
Which he has vary'd more than witches,
Or Pharaoh's wizards cou'd their switches,
And all with whom h' has had to do,
Turn'd to as monftrous figures too.
395 Witness myself, whom h' has abus'd,
And to this beaftly fhape reduc'd,
By feeding me on beans and peafe,
He crams in nafty crevices,
And turns to comfits by his arts,
400 To make me relifh for differts,
And one by one with shame and fear
Lick up the candy'd provender..

Befides

Befide-But as h' was running on, To tell what other feats h' had done, 405 The lady ftopt his full career,

And told him now 'twas time to hear.

If half those things (faid fhe) be true,
They're all (quoth he) I fwear by you;
Why then (faid fhe) that Sidrophel
410 Has damn'd himself to th' pit of hell;
Who, mounted on a broom, the nag
And hackney of a Lapland hag,
In queft of you came hither poft,
Within an hour (I'm fure) at most;
415 Who told me all you fwear and fay,
Quite contrary another way;

Vow'd that you came to him, to know
If you shou'd carry me or no;

420 To be

And would have hir'd him and his imps, your match-makers and pimps, T'engage the devil on your fide, And steal (like Proferpine) your bride. But he difdaining to embrace So filthy a defign and base, 425 You fell to vapouring and huffing, And drew upon him like a ruffin, Surpriz'd him meanly, unprepar'd, Before h' had time to mount the guard; And left him dead upon the ground, With many a bruise and defp'rate wound: Swore you had broke, and robb'd his houfe, And stole his Talifmanique loufe,

430

And all his new-found old inventions,

With flat felonious intentions,

435 Which he could bring out, where he had, And what he bought them for and paid;